The Sky This Month
February 2012
“It’s Venus!”
“No, it’s Jupiter!”
Actually, it’s both! The two bright planets move closer together in the western sky after sunset, confusing and bedazzling stargazers all over the world. The two planets are 40 degrees apart at the start of the month, and just 12 degrees apart by month’s end. To tell which is which, remember Venus is always brighter. The Moon brushed past the two bright planets in late January, and will do so again later this month. And the planet Mars is just four weeks from its closest approach to Earth for the next two years.
Here’s what’s happening in the sky this month…
7 Feb. Full Moon (21:54 Universal Coordinated Time)
9 Feb. Mars appears just northeast of a waning gibbous Moon. The Red Planet rises in the early evening and is well positioned to view before midnight.
After hovering in the late-night and early morning sky for the past month, Mars becomes visible in the constellation Leo in the late evening sky. It reaches magnitude -1.2 by month’s end on the way to its closest approach to Earth this year on March 5. This isn’t a great apparition… the planet is not as close as past years… but you can see large surface markings and the polar caps with a small telescope at high magnification.
* * * Highly Recommended * * *
Ready to see deeper into the night sky? Stargazing for Beginners takes you on an easy-to-follow binocular tour of the stars and main constellations. No telescope required! Click here to learn more…
Mars and the Moon as seen at 11 p.m. local time February 9, 2012 in the mid-northern hemisphere (click to enlarge)
9 Feb. In a telescope, you can see the tiny disk of Uranus just 1/3 of a degree south of bright Venus.
12, 13 Feb. The Moon passes the bright star Spica and the planet Saturn over these two days in the southeastern sky well after mighnight. Spica shines with a bright white light, and may twinkle a little. Saturn shines with steadier sand-colored glow. Saturn will reach its closest to Earth in mid-April. This month, it’s best seen after midnight.
14 Feb. Last Quarter Moon (17:04 UTC)
21 Feb. New Moon (22:35 UTC)
22 Feb. A very thin 1-day old crescent Moon lies near the bright planet Mercury just after sunset. Use binoculars to see the pair.
Mercury and the 1-day old crescent Moon, as seen on February 22, 2012 after sunset (click to enlarge).
23, 24 Feb. A waxing crescent Moon climbs in the western sky after sunset towards brilliant Venus.
25, 26 Feb.The Moon moves past Venus and towards Jupiter over these two days. Venus is brighter, with magnitude -4.3 this month, while Jupiter shines at magnitude -2.2. (See image of the two planets at top of page, courtesy Bullit Marquez/AP)
Jupiter, Venus, and the Moon as seen at 7:30 p.m. local time looking west on February 25, 2012 (click to enlarge)
28, 29 Feb. The Moon moves towards the Pleiades and Hyades star clusters.
28 Feb. through March 7. Mercury lies 10 degrees above the western horizon after sunset. This is the best chance to see Mercury in the evening sky this year.
29 Feb. This is a “leap day”, the extra day added to the calendar every four years. Most years have 365 days, but it takes the Earth 365 days, 5 hours, 49 minutes, and 16 seconds to move all the way around the Sun. To keep the calendar aligned to the Sun’s position, we add one full day every four years. There are no leap days in years divisible by 100, unless the year is divisible by 400.
1 Mar. First Quarter Moon (01:21 UTC)
